Estimating the production of dark photons with $\eta$ decay in high-energy collisions

We propose searching for dark photon signals in the decay channel of $\eta$ mesons, specifically through the leptonic decay ($A^\prime \to e^+e^-(\mu^+\mu^-)$) observable in photon-photon interactions during ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions. We estimate the total cross-section for dark photon production in ultra-peripheral $PbPb$ collisions at current and future hadron colliders. Our findings support the potential for detecting dark photon signals at the LHC, High-Luminosity LHC, High-Energy LHC, and the Future Circular Collider. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. Article funded by SCOAP3 and published under licence by Chinese Physical Society and the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and IOP Publishing Ltd.